Light reflector attachment for use on dry cells



Feb. 12, 1952 J P SPECKMAN 2,585,869

LIGHT REFLECTOR ATTACHMENT FOR USE ON DRY CELLS Filed Dec. 15, 1947Inventor 55 39 John Peter Speckman Patented Feb. 12, 1952 LIGHTREFLECTOR ATTACHMENT FOR USE ON DRY CELLS V John Peter Sp'eckman, EastSLLouis, Ill.

Application December 15, 194%,1Serial No. 791,924

1 Claim. 1

The present invention relates to a plurality of complemental accessorieswhich together provide unique equipment which is usable in connectionwithv a commercial-type dry cell, whereby to provide an illuminatingdevice in many respects superior to similarly performing flashlights ofpresent-day types.

In carrying out my ideas I provide, in, combination, a. regular typeheavy duty one and onehalf volt dry cell or battery, utilize adetachable reflector to direct the lightrays from an ordinary flashlightbulb, and provide. means whereby the bulb may be brought into usethrough the medium of current conducting, connections.- between theusual positive andnegative terminals on the dry cell. I do not meanv to.imply by the foregoing that I consider it novel to use a regularcominercial type dry cellv as a mount for fighting facilities withreflector means.v Admittedly, it is old in the artto. employ ways andmeans whereby an incandescent bulb: is illuminated from coacting bindingposts. on a dry cell. Then, too, I am aware that various reflectors arein vogue in assemblies in this field of endeavor.

The broad object of the present invention is to structurally,functionally and otherwise improve upon known patented arrangements inthe category of inventions under advisement and to attain desired endsthrough the medium of simple, efiicient and. economical devices.

More particularly, I provide a reflector which is centrally apertured topermit it to be placed either in a vertical position or horizontalposition whichever is desired, and also provide a spring clamp which maybe detachably mounted on the dry cell jacket or casing and which hasspring fingers whereby the reflector may be detachably mounted on saidclamp.

Another object of the invention is to provide simple clips and coastingfixtures -to accommodate one or more incandescent bulbs usable invarious ways for handy home and equivalent service.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become more readilyapparent from the following description and the accompanyingillustrative drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a portion of a drycell battery rigged up with the accessories forming the presentinvention and providing a handy and portable flashlight.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 and showing how by rearrangementof wiring and bulbs, a plurality of bulbs may be illuminated from thesingle dry cell, said bulbs to be of different colors and otherwisedecorated for Christmas tree and similar lighting efiects.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the bulb mounting whichis illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a modified formof Wire attaching clip.

Figure 5 is a sectional and elevational view showing one of the bulbmounts illustrated in the plural arrangement depicted in Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of one of the details in theconstructionsseen in- Figures 3 and 5 respectively.

Referring now to the drawings andparticularly to-Figure 1 it will beseen that the dry cell battery which is a commercial type is denoted bythe reference character A. This is an ordinary heavy duty dry cellfurnishing one and one-half volts, as is common with dry cellsin thecategory under consideration. The negative binding post is denotedby thereference character B and is providedwith a clamping nut C of customaryform. In- Figure 3 the central positive binding postis denoted by thereference character D. These are all old parts.

The lighting facilities seen: in Figures 1 and 3 embody a speciallyconstructed fixture or unit of the type denoted by the referencecharacter 1 in- Fig-ure 3- This comprises a nut 8 which is threaded onthescrew threaded post D and which carries a: block of insulation 9 andalso carries a screw-type metallicsocket Hi, this to accommodate aminiature insertable and remowable incandescent lamp or bulb II. This isa regular so-called flashlight. bulb. A current conducting wire I2 is,soldered: or otherwise connected with the socket H1 at one end and atits, opposite end is connected with ametal clip t3 which isapertured tofl-t removably' over the bindirgpost. B. It follows. that by mountingthe 53; on the post B and the socket unit I on the postD; when thefbulhH is screwed: into the socket, its central contact makes electricalcontact with the post D and the bulb is thus lighted. When it is desiredto turn off the light the bulb is simply screwed or backed out of thesocket, in a well known manner.

The reflector is of a semi-spherical type and is denoted by the numeralI4 and is of appropriate dimensions in keeping with the structures shownand generally is somewhat less in diameter than the end of the dry cell.The reflector is centrally apertured as at I5 and isprovided to 01 sideof the aperture with an arcuate slot [6. The aperture permits thereflector to be fitted down over the socket unit I after which the bulbis screwed in the socket so that the reflector then takes a horizontalposition, that is parallel to the adjacent end of the dry cell andunderlies the bulb. The reflector is, however, provided with asemi-circular spring type snapon band or clamp I! with curled or rolledterminals I 3. The reflector in fact is connected to the intermediateportion of the band by way of resilient fingers, as denoted at I9, andtherefore may be readily attached and detached. When it is attached asshown in Figure 1 it assumes a vertical position at right angles to theadjacent end portion of the dry cell. Consequently, the reflector is anindependent unit and may be attached for vertical use as shown in Figure1 or may be applied horizontally in a manner not illustrated.

The clip l3 may be a simple element with a hole to accommodate the postB or it may be of the form detailed in Figure 4 wherein said clip isdenoted by the numeral and is provided with a post hole 2| and is alsoprovided with a socalled bayonet slot 22 for quick detachable connectionwith the binding post if and when desired.

It is to be stated that the slot [6 comes in handy and permits passageof the clip [3' and wire l2 when the reflector is placed in a horizontalposition. It may be necessary to simply thread the wire and clip throughthe slot I6 -for convenient .assembling and disassembling purposes.

Instead of usinga single bulb as illustrated in Figure 1 it is possibleto use a plurality or series of bulbs, say for Christmas tree decorationpurposes. Also the bulbs may be of various shades and colors.

In the multiple lamp assemblave I provide clips 23 and 24 for anchorageon the positive and negative bin'ding posts of the dry cell and theseare providedwith independent wires 25 and 26 respectivelyand'the' clip23 is attached to the post 27 andheld in place by the usual-binding tactelement 39 which supplies current to the central contact of the bulb 34once it is screwed into the'socket 40. The respective units 3| and 32are wired together as at 4|, whereby they are simultaneously illuminatedin an obvious manner. Thus, the accessories may be used singly andcollectively for purposes of handling a single bulb or a plurality orseries of bulbs.

Finally, I have shown one of the details, a. reinforcing block of metal,at 42, in Figure 6. This is a simple rectangular block which is embeddedin the insulation 9 at the left in Figure 3 and in the insulation 38 atthe left in Figure 5. The block is grooved as at 43 to facilitateanchorage. It is also centrally bored and screw threaded to accommodatethe binding posts or f the contactelenient 39 as the case may be. 10

Changes in shape, size, materials and rearrangement of details and partsmay be resorted to in actual practice, so long as they do not departfrom the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claim, asis well understood.

Having'described the invention, what is claimed as newis:

For use on a conventional dry cell having customary positive andnegative binding posts mounted in one end and projecting beyond saidend, one post being axially positioned in relation to the longitudinalaxis of the dry cell and the remaining post being eccentricallypositioned relative to said longitudinal axis, and a source ofillumination separably associable with said posts; an attachment for thebody of said dry cell comprising a substantially semi-circular resilientclamping band partially and separably embracing the post-equipped endportion of said dry cell'body, the intermediate upper edge portion ofsaid band being provided with spring gripping fingers, and acomplemental semispherical reflector, said reflector being centrallyapertured so that it may be placed in a horizontal position inparallelism with the cooperating end of said dry cell and held removablyin place on the axially centered binding post, a marginal edge portionof said reflector being releasably engaged with said spring fingers,whereby the reflector may be converted from the horizontal to a verticalposition in which position it extends beyond the cooperating end of thedry cell for proper coaction with said source of illumination.

JOHN PETER SPECKMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following'references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED- STATES PATENTS

